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HALLOWEEN!

Happy (somewhat belated) Halloween! I hope everyone had a safe but spooky Halloween. There are a lot of good things that come with Halloween. There are the ghost stories, the movies, the costumes, the pumpkins, and the cats, all of which I love.

First, did you know that part of the reason black cats are considered unlucky dates back to the Middle Ages–specifically back to the Black Plague? People don’t quite understand why the cats were first associated with the Devil, but people killed many black cats during the plague. That actually made it worse since the cats had been keeping down the rodent population that spread the plague. Another part of the reason came from the hysteria outbreak about witchcraft. People assumed that “witches” took in (typically black) alley cats to be their companions. People spread rumors and wouldn’t let go of historical beliefs, thus strengthening the idea that black cats were unlucky. I don’t think these felines are unlucky. I have a lot of black cats friends at the animal shelter I volunteer at. I hope to befriend all of the black cats at some point since they’re all really sweet.

Did you also know that the original jack-o-lanterns were carved from potatoes, turnips, and beets? The Irish legend of the jack-o-lantern can be read at the above link, but basically a man named Jack tricked the Devil into not taking his soul and then died. God wouldn’t take Jack and the Devil couldn’t take him, so Jack’s soul wanders the earth with a burning coal in a carved-out turnip. Many people began to carve scary faces into other gourds and root vegetables to scare away this wanderer.

There are too many movies, stories, and costumes to list here, so which ones are your favorites?